Replacement officials and big plays highlight week three

Week three in the NFL was nothing short of spectacular there were a number of surprises coupled with questionable calls from the replacement officials. The Seahawks beat the Packers on a last second hail Mary that was simultaneously caught by a receiver and a defender. The Lions overcame a 14 point deficit with under two minutes to go only to lose in overtime. The Cardinals are still undefeated. The Saints still haven't won a game. It's just plain crazy out there.

Game of the week) Without a doubt, the Packers matchup against the Seattle Seahawks takes the cake. The game was a low scoring affair which almost nobody predicted, including the experts at NFL.com. The game came down to the questionable/botched call of the week. After a review, it was determined that a Packers defender and a Seahawks receiver gained control of Russell Wilson's hail Mary at the same time, resulting in a Seahawks touchdown and throwing online betting circles into a mad frenzy. NFL fans responded to the call with about 70,000 voice mails for Roger Goodell.

The game wasn't all about one call, however. The Seahawks held Aaron Rodgers to 223 yards passing and no touchdowns. On the other end, Russell Wilson threw 2 touchdown passes, but only moved the ball 130 yards through the air. In other words, it was an old-fashioned defensive battle. You don't see them very often anymore, but it was a great game none the less.

Surprising winners) The Raiders stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers with a late Sebastian Janikowski field goal. Carson Palmer resembled his old self, and the Raiders were hardly slowed down by the Steelers in the second half of the game.

The Cardinals won, which shouldn't be so surprising, but the way they demolished the Philadelphia Eagles is nothing short of shocking. The Cardinals established themselves as the dominant team on Sunday, and they never looked back.

The Vikings, in a similar manner, knocked off the 49ers by simply outplaying them from start to finish. It was one of those games that makes you re-evaluate how you feel about both teams involved, especially the Vikings.

The Titans led the Lions by 14 points with under two minutes to go. A touchdown, onside kick, hail Mary completion, overtime field goal and 4th and 1 stand later, the Titans won in overtime after all but giving the Lions the game.

Teams in trouble) The New Orleans Saints suddenly find themselves in the company of the Cleveland Browns at 0-3. The Saints have been poor on defense and inconsistent on offense. It seems as if Sean Payton was very important to this team, and his absence is killing them.

It's too early to start throwing the Pittsburgh Steelers out of the playoff mix, but their loss to the Raiders Sunday revealed a lot of problems with their defense. Troy Polamalu's eventual return will help, but they have major problems in that defense. Age may be catching up to them.

Where we stand) It's still too early to say anything definitive here, but it seems as if the Cardinals and the Texans are the real deal at 3-0. The Saints are now facing the realistic possibility that they may not make the playoffs. They have no margin for error moving forward. Finally, the replacement refs are not improving, or at least not fast enough. The frustrating part is that they still don't seem to understand all the intricate rules. Unfortunately, we're stuck with them, so let's make the most of it.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

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